


Functioning

by DataLore1



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Drugged Sex, Dubious Consent, Incest, M/M, Pseudo-Incest, Rape, Rape Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 14:29:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1513892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DataLore1/pseuds/DataLore1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lore has been making advances on Data ever since being activated on board the USS Enterprise, advances that have been staunchly refused. What happens when 'no' just isn't getting through? Data may be an emotionless android, but the events that transpired just before he was forced to beam his brother into space leave their mark in other ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Incident

**Author's Note:**

> -Part one-
> 
> (Star Trek the next generation definitely does not belong to me last time I checked, so please don't sue. :P)

The second the slightly sweet liquid had touched his lips he’d known something was wrong. Not needing nutrition to live meant that Data had a limited experience with taste, but several times he’d joined celebrations of events of importance aboard the Enterprise, and champaign had never tasted that way before. By the time he’d separated the tastes and textures of the bubbles from the bitter chalkiness of the drug working it’s way into his system it was already too late. He barely had time to set the glass down lest he shatter it (ever the fastidious one) before he could no longer stand without gripping tightly to the desk, which had become the only thing keeping him from buckling over.

"Brother.. why?" His speech was slurred, ironically as if he were drunk. In some part of his positronic net, he filed the sensation away for perusal later, able to appreciate how distinctly human it was to lose control of his faculties in this manner. Something that had previously seemed impossible. Not that he was particularly thrilled to be drugged, or looking forward to finding out just why his new found brother felt the need to trick him this way.

Lore just smirked, laughing softly under his breath as he noticed the white knuckled grip the younger android kept on the edge of the desk. He shrugged nonchalantly as he downed the rest of his own champaign in one gulp.

"Oh several reasons, none of which you need concern yourself too much over dear brother. I promise that I won’t harm you.. much. Your precious friends might not be so lucky, but you’ll get over it in time. Blood is thicker than water hmm? You’ll get used to having me around."

Data glared with as much intensity as he could muster with his vision intermittently hazing, but it only seemed to please Lore as he hummed appreciatively. The younger android had to squint to bring Lore into focus as he suddenly approached, circling around to his back slowly like a predator stalking it’s prey. He didn’t have the emotional capacity to be frightened, but even so he could practically hear red alerts sounding in his subconscious. All sentient life had an interest in self preservation, and Data was no exception.

"What are y-you.. you.. brother?" 

The attempt to crane his neck around to see was aborted as a warm hand gently threaded through his hair and held him still. Data froze as a surprising burst of sensation he had never experienced before exploded to life everywhere his brother touched. The arm snaking around his waist left his nerves tingling, the warm breath on his ear made him shudder in a way the older android found delightful. Data wasn’t amused.. but he was intrigued. The bioplast sheeting which served as his skin shouldn’t be capable of producing sensations in such a manner. Data’s processes were slow, but he was aware enough to realise that this new phenomena must be a result of the drugs Lore had used to weaken him. His older brother must have designed them with this side effect in mind.

"Shhhh, don’t ask questions. This isn’t the time for them Data. Just relax.. I’ve got you."

Indeed he did, pressed up against Data’s back in a way that left nothing to the imagination. Data was quite suddenly made aware of exactly what Lore wanted from him. There was no debate as to what the hardness poking his behind was. He tried to push his brother away weakly, blindly, and failed to budge the older android even an inch.. a fact which Lore seemed to find nothing short of hilarious judging by the almost giddy laughter right in his ear.

"Come now dear brother I’ve seen the way you look at me, I know you want this just as much as I do. The drugs were just to loosen you up a little so we could have a good time without that dumb ethical programme getting in the way is all! I would never do anything to hurt my Data, I always looked out for you before our father saw fit to have me killed." He spat the word father as though it had offended him in some way. "I just want to show you how much I love you.. think you can relax and let me do that hmm?"

Data felt powerless as he was slowly turned to face Lore, immediately noticing the darkness in the eyes roving hungrily over his form. For the first time in his life Data felt self conscious, especially knowing that the skin tight starfleet uniform he usually wore with pride did little to hide the contours of his body. He still wasn’t frightened, but everything he knew about right and wrong was screaming that what Lore was attempting fell firmly into the latter, and he couldn’t be a willing participant. This was illegal, unethical, immoral.. and if he let this happen he would be just as much to blame as Lore for the act.

"No I do not want you to.. I do not want.. no Lore. This is very wrong. We do not.. we are brothers. I do not wish to engage in sexual intimacy with you." He was quite proud that he’d managed to say all of that without slurring the words too much given how drowsy he was beginning to feel. It was like his already considerable weight had suddenly doubled, and he wasn’t strong enough to so much as stand on his own power any more.

Not a problem when Lore was forcing his legs apart to settle between them, pinning Data to the desk securely with his hips which were already grinding slowly against him.

"You will want it, you just don’t know it yet dear brother. I think you’ll find me to be a very good lover, just give me a chance to prove it. Here lets get those clothes off you, and I’ll make you feel like you’ve never felt before."

Data squirmed pitifully in protest as Lore reached behind him to undo the zip, but he couldn’t deny it felt incredible as his brothers nails scratched against his skin ever so softly on the way down. He’d have thought it was intentional if he hadn’t seen the surprise light up his brothers golden eyes.

"My what a responsive little slut you are.. if only we had done this sooner."

"I am not a.. that. I do not engage in deviant sexual acts."

Lore tutted and quietened Data with a soft, almost tender kiss, which the younger brother did everything he could in his state to get away from. Lore didn’t seem very deterred however, merely choosing to allow his lips to slide to Data’s neck instead so he could place soft butterfly kisses there as he pushed the top half of his victims uniform down roughly. The fabric tore a little, but they could always replicate a new set once they were done.

Data whimpered, although from pleasure or protest he could not say as the sensations from even the simplest of touches were so new and overwhelming he was powerless to keep his reactions hidden. Lore needed no further encouragement though, so it wouldn’t really have mattered if he had urged him on or not. Data was already resigning himself to his fate. His only hope of getting away from this unscathed would be for someone to be worried enough about him to break into his quarters, and why would they? As far as they knew nothing less savoury than a quiet family reunion was taking place, so Data could think of no logical reason why anyone would be concerned. He wasn’t even due on duty for at least another hour.

"You like that Data? Have you ever even had sex before? I didn’t expect you to be this responsive, but then I guess nobodies ever made you feel quite this good. Am I right?"

The younger android stuttered as Lore stroked his exposed chest and abs lightly, seeming so attentive and gentle that an onlooker would be forgiven for thinking this was entirely consensual.

"I am p-programmed in… no I mean.. yes. I am not a virgin."

Those feather light kisses to the side of his neck stopped, and Lore pulled back to look into Data’s face with a look of clear disappointment written all over his features. Apparently that hadn’t been what he wanted to hear, and Data felt a little smug for scoring a proverbial point even if he would regret it later. 

"Oh well, you won’t even remember the names of whoever you’ve been whoring yourself out to by the time I’m done with you. You’ll be screaming my name, and nobody else’s."

Data gulped and looked away. That hadn’t sounded promising to his ears.

He couldn’t remember being shed completely of his uniform, but now the cool air of the room was felt keenly on his legs. A fact which would have been odd in itself if everything else wasn’t so much stranger. Data wasn’t supposed to be effected by the elements, but then he wasn’t supposed to feel arousal either, and try as he might he couldn’t stop his own bodies reaction once Lore wrapped a hand around his manhood and stroked it gently with a saliva moistened palm. He arched his back, lost his balance and crashed back onto the desk more fully using his elbows to support his weight.

Gasps of pleasure came unbidden from the young androids lips, and his amber eyes fluttered closed so he could concentrate on the pleasure alone. Part of him still knew this was so wrong, and he knew that enjoying it would only worsen the guilt later, but it felt so damn good. It was like he’d completely lost his mind, reduced to an animal driven by hormones and not an intelligent braincell to speak of. Data did not like feeling that way, but he did like what Lore was doing to him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted it to stop.

Lore chuckled and cupped his face even as his other hand was busy working Data’s cock until it throbbed in his palm.

"Careful brother, you might make me think you actually want me to fuck you." His voice was pure lust, at least an octave lower than it had been as he whispered sex in Data’s ear before nibbling lightly at the lobe. Oh how hard it had been to resist doing this sooner. From the moment he’d been reactivated and seen his brother lying on a bio-bed nearby he’d been fighting feelings of lust towards him. Finally there would be nobody around who could remotely deactivate him should they find out his intentions towards Data, and nobody could stop him. Data would be spared from the crystalline entity of course, and they would take the Enterprise as their own. Lore would be able to be with Data the way they were always meant to be together.

Having such thoughts suddenly made him more excited than he could handle, and he pulled back from Data just enough to unceremoniously shed the jumpsuit he’d been given as clothing. They were identical in nearly every way, and seeing the way Data’s eyes fell immediately to his erect cock made Lore twitch in anticipation. He’d always known Data wanted him, of course he had. This wasn’t rape, it was just a gentle push to help his brother discover things about himself that the idiot Soong had purposefully repressed.

"Spread your legs." 

Data tried to comply, but his synthetic muscles were weak and Lore rolled his eyes as he forced them apart wide enough to expose Data’s tight puckered entrance. He leaned down to spit viscous saliva onto it, and tongued over where he’d spat to further moisten the area. The young android bucked wildly, uncontrollably upwards, thrusting pointlessly at the air as a shudder wracked his form from head to toe.

"Lore! Do.. do that again."

The older complied, but this time slipped a finger inside his brother without so much as a word of warning, and the response he got was delicious. Data’s mouth fell open and a low groan escaped his lips, a sound that seemed to go straight to Lore’s cock. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep things slow and gentle for the more inexperienced android, but contrary to popular belief Lore had some decency. He might be a thief, a murderer and a rapist.. but at least he was gentle. Most of the time..

"Ah.. AH! More.. more please. No stop.. no this is wrong!"

He didn’t seem to be able to make up his mind, and Data’s hands flew up to his face to cover it as though ashamed even as his hips twitched and bucked against Lore’s intrusion. His body clearly wanted more, but his conscious disagreed. How sad… Lore hadn’t wanted to truly force anything but it looked like he might have to.

"Quiet, I only want to hear my name come out of your mouth from now on. You don’t want to disobey me brother." There was no warning in that tone, just cold hard fact, and Data was sure that was infinitely more terrible than any threat his brother could have conjured. He bit his tongue hard against the protests he suddenly felt like screaming, and lay still as Lore’s digit began sliding in and out of him in such an obscenely tender way. He couldn’t help sighing in pleasure though as Lore brushed against something that Data knew was connected to his privates somehow, but wasn’t built to provide pleasure. That was just a happy little accident, compliments of Lore’s illicit drugs.

Lore slipped another finger inside, periodically allowing a thin stream of drool to drip down onto his fingers so he could lubricate Data fully. For that fact at least, Data was grateful. This could have been a lot worse than it was, although he suspected that a more brutal assault would be less damaging in the long run. Intuitively he knew this event would leave it’s mark on him for years to come. And damn it to hell he couldn’t even stop himself from panting like a bitch in heat. Couldn’t stop himself from looking up at Lore with hooded eyes and silently begging for more.

"Relax, this won’t be nearly as bad as most of the things you’ve read."

Data was beyond caring, and even shifted weakly to accommodate Lore better as the older android gripped his own erection to rub it against Data’s loosened hole teasingly. He smirked as Data gasped and writhed, but seeing a little droplet of pre-come coat the tip of his young brothers rock hard dick was more than he could handle. As much as he would love to tease forever, he had needs that had to be taken care of. Carefully as he could manage under the influence of such intense lust, Lore pushed inside and inch by inch worked himself inside the tight little hole that was just begging to be fucked hard. He’d never known such delicious pressure as this, it was like his brothers body was built to accommodate him just right, just the way he liked it. It was just one more piece of proof that they were made for each other.

Hands grabbed Lore’s shoulders in a desperately tight grip that would have injured an organic being. Data was gritting his teeth hard against the intrusive pressure of his brothers sizeable cock, but even through the discomfort (as he couldn’t feel pain) he knew he wanted more.

"Lore.. please.."

"Ah fuck. Data you sound so fucking sexy when you say my name like that."

Data felt Lore start a steady rhythmic pace and moaned shamelessly as the force of his pleasure caused stars to burst in his vision. Whatever Lore was doing it was breaking him slowly in the best possible way, he couldn’t get enough! His breath came in pants as he tried to encourage Lore deeper with each thrust by rolling his hips to meet him, and he was rewarded with a different angle that brushed repeatedly against the same spot that had felt so good earlier.

"Yes yes more please don’t ever stop please brother.. more. Harder."

He was hardly aware of what he was saying any more. He wasn’t aware that he was practically drooling and moaning like a porn star as Lore picked up the pace, burying himself deep inside the writhing android with each thrust. The only thing Data was aware of was how Lore growled low a little with each thrust, and how those golden eyes were growing unfocused.. how it had changed from being made love to (however unwanted that had been) to being fucked mercilessly against the desk. The desk which was shaking with the impact as Lore slammed into Data’s ass faster than a human could ever hope to manage.

Lore knew he was close, but pride dictated that even during a rape he would not come until his victim had been allowed a release. Ha.. victim, what a short sighted bunch most sentient life was for not realising that sex this good could never be truly unwelcome. They were all idiots.. but he didn’t need them any more. Just Data. He could fuck him whenever and wherever he wanted to, in fact he’d had his eye on the captains chair since he’d been allowed on the bridge. How good Data would look kneeling between his legs sucking on his cock while Lore reclined in the comfort of the captains chair.

"Fucking scream my name you dirty little slut, tell me how good my cock feels inside you and I’ll let you come."

Data felt wetness on his cheeks as he screamed Lore’s name. Crying was just a physical response to debris landing on his optics.. it was nothing to do with how deeply disgusted he felt hearing his own voice reverberate around the room echoing his cries. Even when Lore’s hand wrapped around his erection and pumped him firmly to completion, he felt ashamed of the stickiness on his chest as he shot thick ropes of hot come all over himself. No matter how good it felt, it could not disguise how bad it felt to feel good.

He was relieved when Lore finally slammed into him one last time with a shuddering groan of release, even though the unmistakable feeling of being filled up with his brothers fluids made him sick to his stomach. It was all he could do not to roll over and vomit as Lore kissed him passionately, humming with the satisfaction of a man sated. 

"Good boy Data, you did very well. Time for you to sleep now while I clean this place of the worthless organic vermin it’s been infected with. It’s just you and me now brother. I love you."

Data choked past his tears as he realised he would be powerless to stop his evil brother from doing whatever the hell he wanted. He would be unable to save his friends.. and he would be Lore’s forever. That terrified him more than anything, and even that was wrong as he knew it was selfish to be more fearful of that than the inevitable loss of life that was about to happen right under his nose. Emotions were supposed to be beyond his grasp, but it was like this encounter with Lore had turned everything on it’s head so nothing was the same any more. Usual rules didn’t seem to apply now. If it was possible to feel the things he just felt, why shouldn’t it then be possible for him to feel emotions? One thing Data was certain of was that if everyone somehow made it out of this alive, then the ships counsellor was going to have her work cut out for her.

He’d been so deep in thought that he hadn’t even noticed Lore’s hand searching between his shoulder blades for his off switch, and only had time to bark out a brief ‘no!’ before his systems shut down. There was nothing he could do now.


	2. Denial and Isolation

When he came to a short while later it was to the faces of young Wesley Crusher and his mother Beverly looming over him, and it had been all he could do to hold in a sob. All the programmes that had been running as he'd been deactivated hadn't been cancelled, and it was as though he'd never been unconscious at all. He could practically feel Lores hands on him still, and even with the speed at which he processed information it took Data an inordinately long time to reorient himself. If either Wesley or Beverly noticed the wide eyed stare they were being levelled with as Data sprang into an upright position, they made no mention of it. They couldn't know that it wasn't normal for an android to seem twitchy upon reactivation. Twitchy in the literal sense too.. it was really quite off putting to see Lore's distinctive facial tic flicker over Data's admittedly identical face.

"Data the crystal thing is on the outside somewhere close to the ship, and Lore is loose on the inside."

He appreciated Wesley bringing him up to speed, even if the information seemed to sink in as slowly as though he were running it through quicksand. 

"How badly are you hurt Data?"

Golden eyes flickered from side to side as he ran an internal diagnostic. There was more damage than he could remember having sustained before deactivation, which he found curious. Either his memory logs were inaccurate or Lore held more bitterness towards him than he'd previously realised, and had 'kicked him while he was down' to use a human colloquialism. He suspected as much, it would be in keeping with the summarisation of Lore's personality traits he had compiled so far.

It was a good thing the doctor had geared her inquiry towards physical damage, as it gave him an opening to latch onto where he could avoid an outright lie. He was not himself, but if it was a question of whether he was physically capable then he could just about manage. 

"I will function sufficiently to stop Lore doctor." Beverly helped him to close the access panel exposing part of his inner workings, and Data felt quite proud that he tolerated the touch with barely so much as a twitch in protest. The drugs weren't completely gone from his systems yet, and he could still feel physical sensations sparking across the 'nerves' just beneath the surface of his skin as keenly as he had when Lore's hands had been all over him. It was not a pleasant comparison, and he would rather avoid any reminders.

At least now he had a chance to 'get even' as humans would say. Lore would not get away with his misdeeds, nor would he succeed in his plans to feed the crew of the Enterprise to the crystalline entity. No.. this had become personal, and Lore had fucked with the wrong android.

\------------------------------------------------

The cargo bay was silent once it had been established that the threat had passed, devoid of the celebrations that might usually accompany such a victory. Everyone was simply too relieved to be shot of Lore, and too humbled by how easily they had been tricked. Picard owed Wesley a sincere apology for not listening to him sooner, although he could not argue that they had still pulled an admirable victory from the jaws of defeat despite that oversight.

Besides nobody was quite sure it would be appropriate to celebrate spacing Data's brother. He might not be human, but they all imagined that finding out his only living relation was a traitorous psychopath can't have been particularly easy to swallow. During the months they had served together as a crew the senior officers had already formed very close bonds, and every one of them respected the ships second officer immensely. They had learned there was more to him than meets the eye, so they were hesitant to believe the look of impassivity on their friends face was completely genuine. For a being without emotions, he sure knew how to emulate them convincingly from time to time after all.

Data sensed the awkwardness, and approached the captain himself in an attempt to break the silence, but he was finding it difficult to speak. If he didn't know any better he'd think he was exhausted. He felt weak, tired, burned out.. pathetic. He wasn't even sure what to feel. So when the captain kindly asked if he was alright, it was difficult to drag his gaze upwards off the floor, to meet his captains own iron stare as he replied flatly. "Yes sir, I am fine." Not even realising that anyone who knew him would find that answer lacking. Anyone who had spent some time with the man would have expected something more like 'I am functioning within normal parameters'. Still it had been a trying day for all involved, and Picard must have decided that he was quite keen to accept that answer for now if it meant he could wash his hands of the days events and return to something resembling normal routine.

"Then get rid of that damn twitch, and put on the correct uniform."

"Yes captain."

He wasted no time getting out of there, glad of the excuse to beat a hasty retreat to his quarters. Although he didn't fully understand the concept of relief, he could have sworn he felt something that could be described as such as the cargo bay doors closed behind him, and he was finally cut off from the curious, concerned stares of his peers. It was as though the longer he remained in company, the more trapped he felt, and being afforded some privacy had been like escaping the tight confines of a too small cage. If that was relief, then he was glad to have experienced it. Another moment and he might have snapped right there in front of everyone.

Wait... snapped? 

Data pondered this strange paradoxical sensation on the way back to his quarters, so consumed by his analytical rundown on this new phenomena that he hardly even noticed the curious stares of several crew members passing in the corridors. Blurring at the very edges of his vision, and a distinct wetness on his cheeks were the only tip off as to why people were looking at him that way, and even that was only registered subconsciously. Registering that he was crying seemed so trivial compared to the knowledge that he was on the edge of some kind of systems failure, brought on by an overload of emotional input of all things. It was impossible, yet that cold rationality he was enslaved to like a vulcan to logic would not allow him to brush it off so easily. 

He was reminded of a certain Sherlock Holmes quote he was fond of saying. "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

In the last few hours he had experienced exactly seventeen inexplicable sensations that did not fall within the parameters of a malfunction, but did conform to descriptions of various different emotions he had extracted from thousands of literary sources. The only outlier was the ability to process touch as a very real sensation, rather than mere mathematical calculations of pressure and temperature. He would have to afford it all further study later, yet he was hesitant to relive the moments that had caused such experiences. 

'This is ridiculous I am a starfleet officer, I should be able to carry out a simple exploratory procedure objectively. Personal.. feelings should not get in the way of my duty. This could endanger the crew, or it could be a further ploy of Lore's, part of his plan that we had not accounted for.' 

His thoughts raced faster than ever, his tears flowed unhindered down the smoothness of his cheeks, gathering on the left side in a little split near his chin which hadn't yet been knitted back together.

Escape. All he could think about was escape. Suddenly he couldn't gulp air fast enough to cool his systems sufficiently, yet the faster he panted the more constricted his artificial lungs felt until it was like trying to breathe through the narrow opening of a straw. Even the calming influence of the residual drugs in his system weren't helping all that much. Ensign Fairaisle hardly had time to jump out of the way before Data swept him aside roughly with one arm, like swatting an annoying fly, sending him careening into the bulkhead with a yelp. Data did not stop to apologise, as his quarters were just ahead and it felt to him as though a pack of wild hounds were snapping at his heels, but if he could make it to that door then he would be safe. They wouldn't follow him inside. It was safe in that room.. but it seemed so very far away when his vision was swimming and his feet felt like blocks of solid metal.. which of course they were but that was beside the point.

The doors wouldn't close fast enough, so he gripped the edge of one side and wrenched the metal closed, ignoring the screeching protests of stressed steel. It's edge was dented, five dents left a perfect impression of his fingerprints. Explaining this to the repair crew would be difficult, but that was the last thing on his mind at present.

Despite the relative safety of familiar surroundings, and the knowledge that he was alone here away from prying eyes, it wasn't quite enough to hold the tide steady. Like a giant wave his hasty barrier of numbness erected as a protection against falling apart in front of the crew came crashing down around him. Data leaned heavily against the wall just beside his door, and slid down it as tears came unbidden to roll down his cheeks freely. He was so confused. Nothing made sense. Was he really having an emotional breakdown? It wouldn't be so far-fetched for a human in his situation, after being violated the way he had by his own 'flesh and blood', but he was above such things. Or at least.. he had been until now. Whatever Lore had done had ripped apart the fabric of his very being, stripped him down to the barest elements and rebuilt him all wrong. 

The physical claim Lore had made on his body was nothing compared to the stain he'd left on Data's mind. What had he DONE? Data did not have the answers. All he could do was drip spots of dark ochre onto the clothes Lore had exchanged for Data's starfleet uniform. It was symbolic in a way.. Lore had stripped away Data's identity, taking everything familiar away to replace it all with alien emotions, sensations.. feelings. Ironically Lore had given Data everything he'd always dreamed of possessing, yet he would have gladly given it all back if he'd known how painful it was to be human.

Lore had worn this outfit, he realised with a start. He'd wondered what that foreign smell cloying in his nasal passages had been. Androids only emitted a faint scent at best thanks to their inorganic nature, but Soong had been nothing if not thorough while creating his precious 'sons'. The difference was very slight, but Data's olfactory sensors could detect the ever so faint nutty scent that Lore's internal fluids were laced with. He knew he smelled more like tree sap himself, and knowing that even now Lore was somehow still possessing him, smothering him with his presence.. it was more than he could take.

Data ripped the outfit in his haste to be rid of it, flinging it across the room carelessly as he brought his knees up to his chest and sobbed pathetically with his face pressed into them. How he'd longed to feel emotion, and now that it was happening he wished more than anything that he could shut them off. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. His first taste of what it meant to be truly human was not supposed to be.. this. Lore had robbed him of so much in such a short amount of time, and he was never going to get any of it back. 

He should have killed him. Spacing his monster of a brother had been too kind. He knew that Lore would remain active so long as he wasn't pulled into the gravitational orbit of a sun, and the chances of that happening were slim to none. One day the bastard would come back, and inflict himself on others.. maybe he'd even come back to haunt Data again.

Damn the ethical programme Soong had fitted him with. Damn it to hell! 

His voice was still shaking with barely restrained fury, still choked with sobs, when he spoke loud enough for the computer to recognise the command.

"Data to Captain Picard."

Only a brief pause, although it felt like an eternity when he was being forced to fight a losing battle with his raging emotions so as not to arouse suspicion. It wouldn't do to be heard crying over a public comm line. That was not behaviour befitting a starfleet officer. But then neither was taking it up the ass again and again from your own..

"Yes Mr Data go ahead."

He clenched his teeth, and somehow managed to get through his request. Not a small feat considering the images running through his mind. 

'Tell me how good my cock feels inside you and I'll let you come..'

"Requesting permission for temporary leave to ensure that none of my systems were permanently damaged while Lore was impersonating me sir. I will need one full day to run a thorough sweep of my neural pathways."

Before he'd even spoken he knew the captain would never refuse such a request. Data's service record was not only exemplary, but also unbroken by leave time of any description, and by this point in his career he'd managed to accumulate over two years worth of leave. Taking some time out to ensure the ships safety wasn't just logical, it was deserved in the captains eyes.

"Granted, I expect a report at sixteen hundred hours tomorrow but until then get some rest commander. Picard out."

Data waited for the click that signified a cancelled communication, and only then allowed a soft whimper to escape past his lips. His own brain seemed determined to torture him with images of Lore dominating his pliable form over the very desk situated directly across from him with a view of the door, and Data curled up beside it. Data had no idea what was happening, but it was imperative that he keep it away from the crew.. nobody had to know what had transpired between Lore and himself. They would surely be disgusted with him if they knew, so he had to keep it a secret. He had until sixteen hundred the following day to clean his act up, get over this strange emotional outburst, and carry on being the professional second officer that he was.

The only problem was that the hurt ran so deep he wasn't sure if a hundred years would be long enough to 'get over it'. All he could do was hope.. hope and plead that this was all just a temporary fluctuation in his systems. Results of damage and drugs combined... yeah that had to be it. In a pigs eye maybe.


	3. Anger

Deanna could hardly see Beverly through the colourful heads of what must have been hundreds of flowers, all vying for attention at her bedside, most accompanied by boxes of the doctors favourite chocolate truffles serving to take up even more room. Obviously the good doctor was well loved by more than just the senior staff, which made sense for someone who was responsible for keeping everyone aboard in ship shape. Many of the cards looked hand made and childish, and Deanna smiled as she noted what a rare opportunity it must be for a doctors patients to finally return the favour, in their own way.

She stepped carefully over a potted plant, feeling very much like she’d fallen inside one of her beloved adventure novels as she brushed the leaves aside with one arm, and laughed as Beverly greeted her, (and her flowers) with an exasperated sigh.

"If I’d known so many of my friends were secretly botanists at heart, I’d have made sure they wheeled me to the arboretum for treatment." The sarcastic comment was tempered with a good natured smile however, and Deanna knew she was only joking.

With some masterful rearranging she managed to find a space for her own gift, then took a seat on the edge of Beverly’s bed, knowing the doctor would be glad of the company. “It’s your fault for letting your secret orchid growing hobby get out. Besides it brightens this place up. I’ve always said that sickbay could use a little more cheer. You did know it’s a proven fact that comfortable surroundings speed up the healing process right? Just a bit of advice from one ‘doctor’ to another.”

She accompanied her last statement with some air quotes, to indicate that she didn’t really place herself in the same league professionally as Beverly, although Deanna was constantly being assured that she was indeed as valuable to the ships well-being as any CMO. Said CMO was far too tired to argue the point however, especially so soon after waking from general anaesthetic, so merely smirked as she indicated the veritable jungle she was surrounded by.

"A new coat of paint and some nice still life’s would suffice, then we wouldn’t need machetes to so much as reach the patients. That said.. they’re lovely Deanna, thank you very much. So you came to see the wounded soldier eh?"

Deanna nodded, looking curiously at Beverly’s arm which was still wrapped from shoulder to wrist in alcohol soaked bandages. Modern medical technology meant that burned flesh could be regenerated in a matter of hours, but it was still highly painful, and the skin itself needed time to return to it’s former state.

"How are you doing? Phaser burns are pretty nasty.. or so I’ve heard. Counsellors don’t tend to come under fire all that much so I wouldn’t know personally, but you still have all my sympathy."

Beverly merely shrugged, flexing her damaged elbow slightly. “It’s not so bad. Everything is technically fixed up, they’re just keeping the wraps on for good measure, and this is as good a reason as any for sick bay to stock the stronger painkillers. In a few days this will be right as rain.”

Her features darkened slightly then, and Deanna knew what her friend was thinking without needing to access her surface emotions at all. It was part of the reason she’d dropped by for a visit.

"No thanks to Lore.. am I right? I heard you were all lucky to escape alive down there, especially Wes. He told me that you essentially saved his life by getting shot, because it gave Data an opening to disarm him. Can’t have been easy as a mother to watch your son being held at gunpoint."

She watched carefully as her friend tightened her grip on the thin bed covers, obviously enraged by the memory. There really was nothing quite so strong as a mothers instinct to protect, and Beverly had been forced to go against instinct entirely, by abandoning her son in order to save him. Deanna knew that probably hurt worse than any amount of burns, although she hadn’t yet experienced such maternal instincts herself.

Beverly eventually smiled wanly up at her, and reached out with her good hand to take Deanna’s in her own and give it a light, friendly squeeze. “No it wasn’t easy, but what’s done is done.. you don’t need to go into counsellor mode here. By some miracle we all made it out of a very bad situation alive, and with relatively few injuries, so as far as I’m concerned there’s no need to talk it over. Your concern is appreciated though Deanna.”

They fell into a comfortable silence for a while. Only the rhythmic beeping of the bio-beds dotted around sickbay, and low chatter from the nurses disrupting the quiet. Deanna was just contemplating whether it would be cheeky to ask her friend if she wouldn’t mind sharing a few chocolates, when the peace was interrupted by a new arrival. She felt Ensign Fairaisle’s pain before she saw him, to an empath manifesting as a sharp smell in the back of the nose, like adrenaline but different.

"Ouch.." Was her oh so eloquent response as she watched the young man call to the nearest nurse, cradling an obviously broken arm close to his chest.

Her injured friend seemed unable to refrain from doing her duty, and promptly waded through her own personal jungle, wrapping her fluffy blue robe closer about her as she strode confidently over towards the scene.

"What happened here then? I can see your arm is causing you some trouble.. here let me take a look. Anything else hurting?" She found a tricorder lying forgotten on one of the workstations, tutted loudly at the apparent disorder her sickbay was falling into without her to oversee it, and scanned her patient with practised ease. Deanna knew the nurses were just itching to tell her to get back into bed, but it was more complicated to give doctors orders to a doctor, much less your boss, so they reluctantly stepped back, allowing her free reign to treat the young ensign.

Who was evidently quite put out about having to visit sickbay at all.

"Just the arm doc, and before anyone says a thing no I wasn’t playing parises squares on the holodeck again. Just minding my own business, patrolling the crew decks, when Commander Data bulls right into me and knocks me into the wall casual as you please. Didn’t even stop to say sorry! If I hadn’t worked with the man before I’d have him pegged for the biggest jackass.. I mean.. sorry I know I shouldn’t talk bad about a commanding officer but.. it kinda hurts you know?"

Deanna and Beverly shared a look, both mirroring each other’s shocked expressions as they processed the story. Frankly, neither could imagine such rude behaviour from Data, and only one other logical solution presented itself.

Beverly was the first to voice this unspoken agreement. Her tone was gentle but not patronising, as she knew it was a very easy mistake to make. One they had all had the misfortune of sharing not so long ago. “When did this incident occur exactly? It could very well be that you had a run in with Data’s identical twin brother, and it wouldn’t surprise me to hear he was being a violent asshole, if you’ll excuse my unprofessional language.”

The human snorted derisively, and scoffed at the very idea. “I know all about that little identity crisis. I was part of the security team assigned to keeping an eye on Lore while he was aboard doctor, and I know that he was spaced, we all got an alert to keep the shuttle bays closed until we were well clear of the drop off point. This happened after Lore… disembarked. I’m telling you Commander Data was the one who broke my arm. I mean.. I understand that he’s having a pretty shitty day so I wasn’t gonna hold this against him or anything, but I was angry and.. okay just don’t report him or anything. I’ll be happy to get my arm fixed up and go home. Doc? Doctor… you okay?”

Both women had stopped listening to Fairaisle’s angry waffle immediately after the confirmation that Data was responsible. It was so out of character for their gentlemanly companion, that they simply couldn’t cope with the information. To use an ironic analogy, it ‘did not compute’.

The doctor quickly ordered Nurse Ogawa to take over treatment of her patient, recommending the usual procedure for a simple fracture of the radius. Only when both the injured ensign and his new nurse had moved out of earshot did she voice her concerns to Deanna, who was hovering nearby.

"How likely do you think it was that Data just didn’t see him in time to get out of the way? I can just about accept that running into a being made of duranium would be enough to send anyone flying.. but you know Data, he’d have escorted Fairaisle to sickbay himself if he’d noticed he was injured. Something about this whole thing seems all backwards."

She turned to her betazoid friend, who was frowning to herself, seemingly in deep contemplation. It was the look she usually had on her face when she was attempting to sense deception empathically, or work out a particularly difficult chess move. “I don’t know.. he’s got superior senses to ours, he would have heard anyone coming from a mile off unless.. unless he was distracted. He had a lot to concentrate on at the time.. maybe this really was an accident. I’m not prepared to believe that Data would hurt anyone intentionally.”

Those black betazoid eyes seemed to harden with resolve as she finally reached a conclusion, and her tone was firm as she spoke. “No.. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ll talk to him later about it, but there’s no need to alert security. It takes a lot more to distract an android than it does a human, but I don’t think it’s impossible. This is all just an unfortunate accident.”

Beverly could hardly argue with that, and she was reluctant to try anyway. Incriminating one of her best friends, and the man who had saved both her and her son mere hours ago, was not high on her list of priorities.

"Agreed. Thanks Deanna, it’s difficult to know how to handle accusations of assault at the best of times, without adding the complication of a friend being involved. I’m glad you were here to help." Her expression turned mischievous then, and it was clear that any lingering worries were to be forgotten for the time being. "Now seeing as you’re here.. how about you help me out with all those chocolates, and make sure I don’t become morbidly obese on people’s generosity?"

Deanna didn’t need to be told twice wherever chocolate was concerned.

——————————————————————————————————————

Hours dragged by, slow as molasses running off a spoon, and Data was too distracted by his own miserly thoughts to notice. Apparently his internal chronometer was on the fritz, but that problem really did pale in comparison to the multitude of other malfunctions he was currently experiencing.

He’d thought for sure that with time, the strange emotional input he’d been relentlessly pelted with ever since his attack would subside. That hypothesis had proved incorrect, and now Data was faced with the very real possibility that it never would, that he’d be stuck forever in this endless feedback loop of terrible, crippling emotion. It didn’t even bear thinking about.

It hurt. Physically caused him pain. He wanted it gone.

Pretending not to be effected was a traitorous solution at best, as he’d found out while trying to throw himself into the symphonies of his violin playing, only to dissolve into more fits of tears. Playing anything resembling a tune while gripped by sharp spikes of anger, and low, empty valleys of hopelessness, was exceedingly difficult. His normally deft fingers felt like wooden sticks, and the bow, rather than being an extension of his arm, felt numb in his hand. Only artless screeching and frantic staccato screams resulted from his valiant attempts at play.

He was glad that crew quarters were quite soundproof, otherwise his reputation as a quite masterful musician would have been destroyed.

Among other things…

'Yes yes more please don't ever stop please brother… more. Harder.'

There was a new hole in the wall where his fist had just pummelled it.

Data was silent as he surveyed the damage, both to his quarters and his own hand, and bit back a whimper as the ‘pain’ bloomed to life as damage alerts sirened around his head. Another new phenomena he was struggling to comprehend… these physical sensations were not fading, as he’d assumed they would once the drugs wore off. He’d found that pain manifested itself in a strange, prickling tingle, like thousands of tiny insects crawling beneath his skin, or minuscule static shocks. They would vary in intensity depending on how damaged he was, and they were becoming a problem seeing as currently, Data was damaged in all sorts of ways.

Most of his injuries were minor, and would barely even have registered normally, but now the strange tingling all over his body was unbearable. Discomfort, when applied in enough intensity, could be as distressing as pain, Data concluded, as he shook his hand fruitlessly to try and rid himself of the sensation.

No amount of searching had yielded any kind of explanation for why he was experiencing this now. Answers to any of his silent queries were growing increasingly elusive of late in fact. He doubted if even his own father could have given a satisfactory answer as to why Data was suddenly about a hundred steps closer to his dream of being human.

Lore had triggered it all. He would know. Except…

He shuddered as for the umpteenth time, the entire incident flashed before his eyes with perfect clarity. Sounds, smells, sensation.. all bundled into one blinding image that left Data breathless.

He groaned as he felt yet another erection straining against his pants, and his cheeks burned as he blindly made his way to the bathroom, groping around the room until he found his shower. The real water shower that was granted only to senior staff, and stepped into an icy cold spray, as cool as the temperature regulators would allow. He gasped as he felt the shock of frigid water beating against his skin, and clenched his teeth as he waited for the shower to perform it’s intended purpose.

This had happened far too often in the last few hours to be mere coincidence. Data was far from an asexual being, but being an android had it’s advantages in terms of self control. He decided when to activate his sexual programming… he decided when it was appropriate… he decided what the perceived reactions to stimulus should be, and he decided when to view erotic imagery.

Not so much any more.

It was shameful, and quite possibly the most debilitating part of this whole damn fiasco. It was wrong to lust after your brother, even more so after being raped by said brother, and it proved that there was something very wrong with him. His new found emotions only compounded the problem by determining that it went beyond simple malfunction. Oh no.. that would be too easy. He was becoming very well acquainted with guilty shame.

He knew the best course of action would be to talk to someone about it, preferably someone with expertise in psychology and cybernetics. Okay so two someone’s.. Geordi would be the ideal man to go to for a full diagnostic, to resolve his physical malfunctions, and Deanna would be ideal to talk to about.. about his brother.

It was useless even contemplating taking such action, as every time he tried a sick, burning feeling would rise in his throat like bile, and squash any courage he might have gathered in an instant.

'No.. I cannot voice my concerns, they will know.. they will know that I wanted this. They will blame me, and accuse, and decide I am just like my brother if I show them how damaged I am. This will all go away in time. I must persevere.'

A little voice in the back of his head protested that he was being ridiculous. The logical part of his brain knew that time wouldn’t do much to heal this particular wound, not if he didn’t seek out help first.. but he was afraid. He was afraid that his friends would be disgusted by his liaison with Lore, he was afraid that they would find he was broken, and terminate him the way the colonists had demanded for Doctor Soong to terminate his brother, he was afraid of himself.. more than anything he was afraid of himself. He felt like a stranger in his own skin. What if Lore had activated some long dormant programme, and Data was slowly becoming just like him? The older android was certainly spiteful, not to mention egotistical enough to mould another into his own image.

Was it only a matter of time now before he went on a killing spree of his own?

Heat pooled into his stomach, and Data thought that perhaps the cold shower had ceased to work, and he would have to take care of his problem some other way, except this felt slightly different. A moments search placed the feeling as ‘anger’, but much more intense, and for a moment Data was fascinated by the involuntary clenching of his fists the emotion caused. The strange buzzing in his mind as the heat came to a boil, the narrowing of his vision as his focus narrowed to a razor sharp point.

In another time and place he would have been thrilled at feeling rage for the first time. Now however… it was just another reminder of how similar he was becoming to his psychotic brother, for whom rage had become a guilty pleasure, to be indulged at the expense of others, all for a few moments of cheap thrill. Anger had been the beginning of all of Lore’s problems. He’d embraced it after a time, once he’d realised the colonists would never love him. He’d learned to revel in it.

And Data should not have known any of this. His memories of time spent living among the colonists had been erased forever, replaced with mere work logs and diary entries. He could not recall ever living alongside his older brother, nor the events that had lead to Lore becoming the twisted individual he was destined to be.

These memories were not his own.

They were vague at best, and when he tried to concentrate fully on recalling them they seemed to skitter away to the furthest recesses of his consciousness, but they were there. Somehow, Lore’s memories had been imported into his own neural net.

Great… he’d been mind raped as well as physically raped. Data barked an insincere laugh at his own private little joke.

"Warning, lack of resources dictate that H20 showers should not last for longer than.."

The ships computer was telling him off for squandering resources. There really was a first time for everything. It didn’t have time to finish it’s warning however as Data shut the water off, and stepped naked and dripping onto the tiles. He caught sight of himself in the mirror as he padded towards the towel rack, and paused to peer closer at his reflected image, trying to see something tangible in his appearance that had changed. He felt so different on the inside, but on the outside he was the same old Data. The same yellow eyes, albeit haunted ones, the same golden skin, the same face…

Wait no, not exactly the same. His cheek chose that moment to contract uncomfortably, the same way Lore’s had, and Data stared dispassionately as in an instant his visage had transformed to match the new persona he felt he was taking on. It was disconcerting.. but somehow expected, as though he’d been mentally prepared to see Lore’s face reflected back in the mirror.

He wasn’t really entertaining the notion that he was becoming his older brother was he? What the hell had been done to allow such an illogical neurosis to form?

He had to know.. he had to do something before he became truly paranoid. Geordi could check him over to make sure Lore hadn’t implanted memories into him, or even the android version of a sinister virus. It would explain why he was able to feel the things he was feeling. Perhaps it was all just a very convincing simulation, designed to confuse Data and make him malleable to suggestion. Lore had mentioned that he’d intended for them to ‘be together’, so it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to imagine that he’d come up with some form of insurance, to make sure Data stayed at his side.

Or at least.. he hoped that was it. The other alternative was that he’d completely lost his mind, which would have unfortunate implications due to his mechanical nature. He’d read enough science fiction to know exactly what happened to insane robots.

So distracted was he, that he almost left his quarters wearing nothing but a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. That would have caused quite a stir, he thought with a tinge of bitterness.. his brother certainly would have enjoyed that sight.

'Enough. Get dressed, go to Geordi, get fixed, avoid awkward questions. Simple.'

Life was never simple.


	4. Anger (Part 2)

Engineering was uncharacteristically peaceful when Data stepped out of the turbo lift, and offered a brief nod to an over enthusiastic junior officer who felt the need to salute whenever he passed within ten meters of them. The low, constant hum of the warp core vibrated through the floor, and combined with the steady blinking lights beating in a constant, uninterrupted rhythm, it was hard not to think of engineering as the very heart of the ship. Data loved, (loved?) the hustle and bustle of activity, as officers swapped status reports, and conversed loudly to be heard over the constant dull roaring of the   
Enterprises engines.

On any other day a trip to engineering that didn’t include the necessity of having to divert a warp core breach, get a failing life support back online, or otherwise save the ship from certain catastrophe would have been a peaceful change of pace. He would often come here whilst off duty to visit his good friend Geordi, and would usually end up helping out with some task or another. It was cathartic for him, and he liked to work anyway. He liked to be useful.

Today however, he was keen to cut the visit as short as possible without drawing attention to his impatience. Data highly doubted that even hard work would distract him from his current problems, and his new found emotions were far too volatile to be suppressed for any length of time. It took every scrap of effort he could muster merely to appear his usual impassive self as Geordi spotted him. The kindly engineer dismissed what could only be a staff meeting to come see him. Smiles were always at home on the engineers slightly rounded face, and he was wearing one now as he approached Data, already reaching out a hand for a friendly clap on the back. He always did forget how easy it was to bruise oneself when you slapped an android.

Data watched the hand carefully, and turned his body ever so slightly, protecting the switch at his back. He wasn’t allowed time to dwell on that strange, tight feeling that had gripped his heart just now however, as Geordie was already talking at him, and it would be wise to listen.

"Hey Data, it’s good to see you down here! Off duty?" A nod from Data. Geordi seemed to brighten. "Sorry but I’ve only got about ten minutes before we start some simulations. I’m free after that if you needed something though." Only then did he take a closer look at Data, and his furrowed brow showed that he didn’t particularly like what he saw.

Data tried not to notice, and tried not to react, but he could feel the corners of his lips turning down ever so slightly in a frown, with the knowledge that he was about to be subjected to awkward questions. Somehow, his sophisticated and supposedly brilliant mind had forgotten that Geordi’s visor could ‘see’ him. The engineer had told him once that looking at Data was like looking down on a city alive with activity at night. Every little energy flow, every little signal, every little fluctuation showed in vibrant colours, swaying calm as the sea, or hurrying haywire like scurrying epohhs in their warrens, depending on Data’s state of activity. And Data’s state of activity was… abnormal, at present. He may as well have been wearing a sign saying ‘be concerned’ on his chest, because that was exactly the way Geordi was looking at him right now. Just when he thought he’d gotten away with it too.. “You okay? You look a little.. I dunno… off colour Data.”

The irony of that statement wasn’t lost on either of them. The android even felt a subtle twinge of amusement threatening to leak out around the edges of his façade, but it was thankfully short lived.

"I am functioning normally, and my colour has not, nor will it ever change. Actually, I came here to ask a personal favour, but if you are busy it can wait until a more convenient time." He was looking for a last minute escape route. Grasping at straws for an excuse to retreat. Anxiety.. how did organic beings function in a fight or flight situation while crippled by such a handicap? It was irrational to feel anxiety however. Geordi posed no real threat, he wouldn’t ever intentionally cause harm.. in fact the only danger here was the danger of him discovering something that Data didn’t want him to know. But THAT was irrational too. By rights he should report everything that had transpired between him and Lore, as any malfunction that may (ha.. may..) have resulted could easily pose a threat to the crew, given his superior strength, intellect, and high rank.. therefore intimate knowledge of the ships security systems. He was practically a ticking time bomb.. so why wasn’t he willing to admit that and get somebody to help him?

Burning, gut wrenching shame. Acid rising in his throat like bile.

‘Lore.. please..’

He swallowed down the acid, and meekly followed Geordi’s gentle prodding towards the more private confines of the head engineers office. Thank goodness for small mercies. Having the rest of the crew see him this way was not a prospect to inspire delight.

Geordi leaned against his desk and gestured to the office chair, which Data reluctantly accepted. There was short pause, as his friend raked over every inch of his face, brows furrowed so deeply it seemed as though his forehead would never be smooth again.

"Alright Data spill it.. something’s wrong. You wouldn’t be here unless it was something I can help with, so talk to me. What’s happened?"

Talk.. for such a simple request, it was an exceedingly difficult one to perform. The androids eyes roved over the imperfections in the wood of Geordi’s desk, as he tried to think of a suitable way to voice his concerns, without arousing suspicion or revealing too much. The longer he delayed, the more fretful his friend would become however, so he was forced to verbalise something before Geordi really started to worry.

"I do not know if there is anything ‘wrong’ as such Geordi, but I do have sufficient reason to be concerned. You will have already read the reports pertaining to my brother Lore." It wasn’t a question, but Geordi nodded anyway. "Then you will know he deactivated me for a short time, in order to steal my identity. I need to be sure that I wasn’t… tampered with. The crews safety could be compromised if he got his hands on.. anything." He couldn’t quite meet Geordie’s eyes as he finished weakly. Lore had gotten his hands on all too much already, and even talking about it out of context hurt, a lot. Strange things were happening to his systems again, so confused, taking advantage of his woefully inadequate ability to rationalise, and he couldn’t have named even a single one of the emotions which had him in their grasp. All he knew was that the room was growing smaller, it was getting harder to breathe, and he felt hot.. far too hot.. 

His left cheek chose that moment to clench and spasm violently. It was the straw that broke the camels back. Data could count on one hand the amount of times he’d had to raise his voice, but now it burst forth from him in a metallic snarl, frightening even to his own ears.

"Just start a fucking diagnostic already before I do something you’ll regret!"

He felt like a puppet on a string as his body hurled itself at Geordi, grabbing him by the wrists, and pinning him to the wall, only just remembering in time to mind his strength, so saving the engineer an injury. Even so he still cried out, but mostly from shock rather than pain. There were still some safety protocols in place against attacking unarmed organics then.. good. In Geordi’s visor he saw himself reflected back, and the rage filled beast he was confronted by was not the android who looked back at him in the mirror each morning. If the gravity of what he was doing hadn’t chosen that moment to sink in, he might have thought the way his normally flat, expressionless eyes danced, as though consumed with fire, quite beautiful. It was the most human he’d ever looked.

"Data what the hell do you think you’re doing? Let go of me now or I will call security on your ass.” His tone was overly hard, and Data knew he was trying to sound braver than he felt. For the sake of Geordi’s nerves, it was a good thing he didn’t need telling twice. Recoiling backwards as though burned, he held up his hands in surrender, staring wide eyed at his friends wrists where he’d grabbed them, wondering what had possessed him to attack Geordi of all people. The door was looking very inviting, the prospect of running away seductive.. but he owed it to his friend to stay, and at least try to explain.

"I.. I am so sorry Geordi I did not mean to.. I am.. not myself. Something has gone wrong with my programming, I cannot control myself, there are so many conflicting commands. I am feeling, and for the first time in my life I wish I could not feel. Lore, he did something. Gave me.. something.” And took away something too, but he couldn’t share the worst part of his pain. Even now, with the aftermath still leaving marks wherever he went, the betrayal of trust hurt the worst.

Geordi seemed to soften then, rubbing his wrists gingerly before gently drawing Data into a hug. It wasn’t his style, but the android appeared to need it. A genius would not be required to notice something was deeply, deeply wrong with.. well everything really. This way he could hide his face too, so Data wouldn’t see the brief twinge of fear that shadowed it when he’d mentioned feeling for the first time. By all rights he should be happy for his friend, for achieving the goal of a lifetime, but if it was going to turn amiable Data into… this.. then Geordie wasn’t sure he liked it.

Data stiffened at the touch, warring emotions competing for supremacy for approximately 0.62 seconds, then melted into the embrace gratefully. He understood now the human need for comfort. He tried to stifle his sobs against Geordie’s shoulder, but nobody was fooled and he knew it. Still.. the cat was out of the bag, how much worse could it really get?

"Don’t apologise. I can’t understand what this is like for you no, but I have a pretty active imagination. Emotions are hard enough to deal with when you’ve had your whole life to learn how, and you’ve just been thrown in the deep end. Hardly surprising your sinking fast. Just.. don’t speak. We’ll figure this out, but we’ll put the kid gloves on yeah?"

Data felt his friend pull back, and tried not to cling, tried not to be pathetic. It mostly worked, and at least he was rewarded by a genial smile from the engineer, the same one he’d worn three days ago, when he’d explained carefully to one very bemused android just what the term, ‘kid gloves’, actually meant. He used the excuse of going to retake his seat as an opportune moment, to wipe the remaining tears away hurriedly with his sleeve, although there was no point beyond foolish pride. Once he’d calmed himself, Geordi approached with a diagnostic tool in hand. Data tried not to panic when the engineer opened his cranial access panel, and began scanning. 

All the time while he worked, Data counted all the prime numbers, and tried not to let the image of Lore’s face hovering over his own invade his mind. To a degree it worked. He was almost managing to keep the amount of times he heard those pleasured sighs to once per minute, when a soft exclamation broke his carefully cultivated concentration.

"Oh my god…"


	5. Bargaining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Well firstly I am truly sorry for the delay, things have been chaotic in so many ways around here lately that it's been hard to find five minutes to just sit down and write. That said.. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. I think we've established that this whole fic is about as au as it gets, but I am trying to stay within the realms of trek canon, just in some.. very lateral ways. The title of this chapter is actually meant to mean bargaining in a gambling sense, rather than the more traditional context that it might have taken thanks to the established theme, but I hope this will make sense later on.
> 
> Kudos to anyone who knows what the last line is referencing!  
> As always I own nooothing, so don't sue.  
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was absolutely no aspect of the day that could possibly have been any worse. Data had been downright alarmed when Geordi had called for security, even more-so when the engineer refused to tell him just what he'd found to warrant the request for a transfer to a secure brig. Despite countless reassurances that it wasn't meant as a punishment, only as a precaution, Data couldn't help feeling that he was being blamed for.. something. Having the capacity to perform sixty trillion operations per second meant that a whole lot of hypothetical scenarios could run through his mind in the blink of an eye, and already some pretty interesting ideas had taken hold.

What if Geordi had somehow accessed his memory banks and seen how easily Data had submitted to Lore's will, and took that to mean the two androids were in league? It's not like they had known each other for all that long, and while their relationship had been amiable, even friendly so far, he wouldn't blame the engineer for feeling wary. He was not unaware of the fact that many of the crew members who had been in direct contact with his brother might be wondering if the two androids were identical in more than a physical sense. Data was certainly capable of emulating Lore's destructive behaviour. 

And that was saying nothing of the fact that he would have done anything.. ANYTHING.. to prevent those memories from becoming public. 

But he was getting ahead of himself, it was just one possibility among thousands, and perhaps favourable to the next most likely alternative. The diagnostic scans Geordi had been running on his neural net would have detecting any hint of tampering. Lore had deactivated Data for a time, and his new facial tic was evidence enough to show that something had been done to his body whilst he was unconscious. Who was to say that the psychopathic android had stopped there? Data was beyond terrified of the ramifications of such a discovery, as there was no telling what kind of damage could have been caused.. or what kind of damage was intended to be caused later. If Lore had altered even a few lines of code in his ethical programming for instance, then he might be looking at some competition for the craziest, most bloodthirsty android stakes before long.

When the forcefield had covered the open door of his cell with a faint electrical crackle, Data had actually been relieved. He knew the specifications for each brig cell down to the last detail, and knew that starfleet had designed them to effectively hold every species currently known to the federation.. including soong type androids. Nobody was going to get hurt if his wild speculations turned out to be true.

Of course nobody had seen fit to put those fears to rest either.. it was driving him crazy.

It was only when he spotted Geordi returning, with a string of his best engineers and a few officers in science blue, that the pressure became too much. He tried not to sound as worried as he felt as he implored his best friend to put him out of his misery.

“Geordi, please tell me why I have been contained to the brig. Lieutenant Worf refused to inform me why I have been arrested, which is in breach of security guideline eighty seven, paragraph two, detailing that a security officer must read the rights of..”

“Okay Data, just stop right there, this isn't an arrest. I had security bring you here because it's the only deck on board which automatically erects a cascade of containment fields in the event of an emergency. Trust me when I say that you're here for your own good.. and the good of my warp core.” The engineer ran his dark, work roughened hands over a brow damp with sweat. He was under no small amount of duress.

“Just sit over on the bunk and I'll explain.” He turned on his team and raised his voice, allowing a steely commanding edge to grab their attention. “All of you wait outside until I summon you back in here. I need to talk with the commander before we proceed.” A murmur of 'aye sirs' and shuffling feet greeted the dismissal, as they filed out in an orderly line. 

Data couldn't help but note that they all shared the same grim look of determination. They were all in mission mode, and the mission seemed to revolve around him. He hesitated a moment before doing as his friend asked, and perching on the edge of the only available surface within the room that offered a vaguely comfortable seat. 

Geordi lowered the force fields, and left them down as he entered, which Data took to be a confirmation of the fact that he wasn't anyone's prisoner. The thought brought him some small amount of comfort at least. Even so his hands were nervously fidgeting in his lap as he fought to remain calm.

“What did your scans reveal? You would not have brought me here if the discovery you made did not endanger the crew. I wish to be told 'straight up', I believe is the correct expression.” He had time to recognise that he'd just told his first convincing lie.

“Okay.. well.. before I start I just want to say that I'm sorry for leaving you in the dark like this. I just thought that.. well you were angry before, and I needed more time to be sure of what I was seeing before stressing you out unnecessarily, but it must have been a pretty rough deal for you so I apologise for that.”

“Apology accepted. There is no harm done so long as you will enlighten me about my condition now Geordi.”

His friend nodded solemnly, and moved to lean against the wall next to the bunk. Data could tell he was stalling for time somewhat, and while he did feel a brief flash of annoyance, he could understand now that bad news must be almost as awful for the one delivering it, as it was for the recipient. He waited patiently for his friend to find the correct wording, using the time to steel himself against what he knew would likely be earth shattering knowledge.

If it wasn't for Data's acute sense of hearing, he'd never have caught Geordi's soft admission.

“I sent the data I gathered from the diagnostic over to Beverly. There were a lot of strange bio readings that I couldn't make sense of. Injuries too, minor ones but.. well.. Data it's pretty hard to ignore the obvious here. We know what Lore did to you. I'm so sorry..”

Data's throat felt tight, his mouth dry, and there was a faint ringing sound in his ears, or at least he thought there was. Other than locking his gaze onto his hands, which had clenched into fists, there were no outward signs of distress at all. He grew oddly calm on the outside, while wanting to scream on the inside.

“Ah.. I see.”

Geordi seemed torn between reaching out to him and wanting to be anywhere else. He settled on awkwardly reaching out to pat him on the shoulder, while simultaneously staring at his shoes.

“Hey I just want you to know that um.. I'm here for you buddy, and umm.. I know it wasn't your fault and.. stuff.” The man was grasping at straws, visibly uncomfortable with the subject but at the same time.. they were friends, and Data thought he genuinely meant the sentiments, even if he was less than eloquent at expressing them. He tried to smile, failed, and lapsed into an awkward silence. It stretched on long enough for him to process the fact that Geordi had still declined to explain the reasons behind his incarceration. Finding out about the way Lore had used him didn't justify the steps he'd taken to isolate Data.. in fact it went against every medical paper, every semi intelligent idea on the subject of reaching out to a victim of abuse.

As though he harboured an ability to read minds, Geordi answered his question without Data even needing to ask.

“But.. that's not why you're here. I'm sorry Data, but Lore wasn't happy with only hurting you.. one way. I found discrepancies within your sensory arrays, neural net and basic programming.”

That certainly got his attention. “What kind of discrepancies?”

If the visor hadn't gotten in the way, Data knew that Geordi would be levelling him with a hard stare now. He'd observed that the engineer disliked having to state the obvious.

“Tampering. I don't think there's a part of you that he hasn't messed with. It's hard to even tell where the real you ends and his work begins.. but the things he's done are off the scale. He's re-routed power into sections of your brain that have always been pretty much dormant, according to your schematics. My guess is that Soong programmed you with the ability to evolve, and given time you might have grown into abilities that seem impossible now.. it's not completely far-fetched that you could know emotion one day, or physical sensation, not just pressure and heat.. you get the gist. Somehow Lore's managed to activate all of these dormant areas in one extensive operation without causing cascade failure. I'd be calling the guy a genius if he hadn't come this close to killing you already.” Geordi held his forefinger and thumb a hairs breadth apart. 

“Killing me? He did fire a phaser at me milliseconds before Wesley beamed him into space, but my life was not truly in danger, the range was such that I could have avoided the..” He clicked his jaw closed as Geordi snarled out a ferocious string of expletives.

“No you're not fucking getting it! You nearly died in my office.. and it was my own damn fault. The whole time I was scanning you and poking around, I never once noticed that there was a power drain in your frontal lobe. It was rigged to overload if I tried to physically access.. pretty much anything. If I'd tried to repair the.. I don't even know what to call the sheer amount of re-routing he's done to your sensory inputs, then your whole brain would have short circuited.. irreparably. If it hadn't been for a second scan, because I never quite trust the equipment, then you'd already be cooling off on a slab.”

He'd been pacing the entire time, measured, methodical steps juxtaposing the irate bite in his tone. Data could only watch him go back and forth, slack jawed, wishing that it was his auditory receptors that were malfunctioning, because he thought he'd just heard that.. “You cannot fix me? You mean to say that I am.. stuck this way? But.. but that is unacceptable! I.. I have wished for emotions my entire life, but now that I have them I do not want them.. not like this.”

The android figured he must have looked as lost, alone and frightened as he felt, as Geordi buried his anger, choosing instead to sit beside him and draw him into a one armed hug. Data melted into the comforting embrace, too tired to flinch away from the touch this time, and too desperate for any semblance of support to turn it down when it was freely offered.

“No.. that's why I brought my team with me. There are options here, but you'll need to make a decision quickly or there's no telling whether we can ever safely remove Lore's modifications. Your systems are already integrating the changes, and may struggle to function without their input if we delay.. still I want you to think carefully. There is a small chance that we can reverse some of the damage, rewrite your programming, route power away from the previously dormant areas.. that kind of thing. But the problem is we're working on the unknown here, not one of us is even close to fully understanding the intricacies of.. well you Data.. not even me, and I've studied every cybernetic text I can get my hands on.”

The engineer sighed, and Data pulled away from his embrace to look into his face, startled by the way Geordi's carefree visage had seemed to age ten years.

“It's your call.. if we don't act there's no way of knowing what will happen. My scans were incomplete, because I wasn't willing to risk further exploration once I discovered the energy drain. Not without a controlled set of safety measures in place anyway.” He seemed to grow smaller then, and the android guessed correctly that the engineer was imagining going ahead with the procedure.. and being indirectly responsible for his death. It was kinder not to allow him to voice that option.

“And the risks are self evident if I choose to go through with the procedure.” The silence after his words was heavy.

Data didn't need to be told that the risks were astronomical. He calculated his own probability of survival at around 40 percent at best, given what he knew of Geordi's skill, and the academic achievements of his team. Grim odds even without the element of the unknown.

“May I be permitted a twenty four hour interval to come to a decision? I recognise that it is somewhat unwise to delay.. however it would appear that I am equally doomed no matter how I choose. If it is permissible, I would like to speak with counsellor Troi. She is the most qualified officer aboard to organise the... emotional dysfunction I am experiencing while faced with this momentous undertaking.”

That was a very calculated way of saying that he didn't know which way was up any more, and needed some damn guidance. He knew that the cold, numb feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach, and spread outwards to every fibre of his body from there, was not the same as being emotionless. Data was intelligent enough to recognise that although it was the most he'd felt like his old self since Lore had slipped something into his drink, it was merely the calm before a storm, and he didn't want to be alone when the first rumble of thunder threatened to unleash hell.

Geordi nodded his understanding, and got up to go and fetch Deanna Troi. Before he could leave however, Data caught his hand in an iron grip, and made sure that the engineer was looking directly at him before he spoke.

“And Geordi.. it is important for you to know that I do not hold you responsible for anything that may happen. You are a gifted engineer, an asset to starfleet.. and a dear friend. You have my gratitude for your willingness to try.”

He noticed moisture shimmering just beneath Geordi's visor when he let the engineer go. Data was given a military salute just before he watched his friends retreating back, leaving him alone in the cell with his thoughts. Unbidden, a line from an ancient Earth entertainment platform came to mind, and he had to chuckle darkly as he whispered into the empty air.

“We may have years, we may have hours, but sooner or later we all push up flowers.”


End file.
